Our Moral Monfort Majority

BigRapidsJackass · 12-27-2006, 09:21 PM

For anyone who's slept through the last couple weeks, let me call your attention to the fallout from the immigration raids at the former Monfort Meats (currently Swift, the Monforts having sold out many years ago) facility in Greeley.

Read this: The Tribune -

Registration required, but if you google a few key words ("meatpacking" "Fort Collins Weekly" and "labor" worked for me) you can pull up a cached version.

It really is worth your time. Believe it or not, the local rag gets to the heart of the story, exposing deeper truths than the big media.

Key quotes:

Quote:

In the new rural slaughterhouse, turnover has become a strategy to be encouraged as opposed to a negative business expense. An ever-changing Hispanic workforce decreases the power of organized labor and eliminates a substantial portion of health-care costs for the company.

For example, in March 1980, Monfort closed its Greeley plant, citing cost efficiency.

It rehired and reopened two years later without a union contract using a high percentage of Hispanic workers. By closing its plant and reopening without the union, Monfort cut its labor costs by 25 percent.

Quote:

Swift is Greeley's largest employer and as such it adds greatly to the city's economy.

But its insistence that it does not draw from an illegal work force rings more hollow with each passing year.

A review of the Greeley Tribune reports following the last immigration raid on the same plants when they were owned by Monfort in 1991 are more than a bit revealing. Company executives at the time claimed, "they had never knowingly hired illegal aliens." The company in 1991 claimed that it had been working cooperatively with the government and was stunned by the decision to raid the plants. It claimed to have requested and received the proper documentation for each employee it hired.

According to a Tribune article on Sept. 24, 1992, Dick Monfort, then head of Monfort meat packing operations, told the paper: "The INS agents abused the legal process to accomplish something they could not obtain by any other means. The raid by 200 armed agents from all over the United States, a helicopter and 80 vehicles was not only a blatant use of excess force and a waste of taxpayer money, but it humiliated over 1,900 of our employees."

According to news accounts at the time, the greatest concern was for the school children who had no one to pick them up and were likely traumatized by their parent's and relative's arrest and deportation.

In other words, nothing seems to have changed in 14 years.

But why would it have? As long as there is a need for cheap labor -- in a competitive industry like meatpacking, Swift can hardly be expected to raise its wages and benefits

Just something to keep in mind the next time your homegrown, homespun, moralizing owners tell you they're finding it tough to compete against big city corporate-owned franchises who are willing to bring in any player, no matter what his behavior off the field, if it helps them win ...

Roxpert · 12-28-2006, 12:32 AM

Hiring cheap labor and keeping costs under control is the one skill set that the Monforts have transferred over from their old business to the Rockies, it seems. As we get farther away from the Jennings trade, which I still think was good one, it is clear that cost-savings was the main motivation even though we got good young pitching talent back.

SOME team, either the Astros or someone else, will pay Jennings north of $50 million in a long-term deal in the next 12 months. Obviously, if the Rockies won't do that for Jennings, the quintessential "homegrown" pitcher, they likely won't do that for any pitcher. Ever. Not under the Monforts, at least.

And yet they were moralizing publicly about Jennings' hiding behind his agent. Must be nice running an entertainment company such as an MLB franchise as if it were a meat-packing plant!!!

BigRapidsJackass · 12-28-2006, 01:10 AM

Roxpert, you're absolutely correct. One thing that hasn't changed is the b.s. generator they used in their meatpacking days. (See above re: crocodile tears shed for the cheap immigrant labor rounded up in 1991 vs. the lack of any such concerns when they busted the union by closing the entire plant in 1981.)

Think about the Jennings trade and the Monfort spin machine:

1. October: the Rockies announce that next year's payroll will be $54 million. Since that seems to be about $12 million more than last year, a few folks get excited. Who's coming to town? Could it be a trade for Vernon Wells? Signing Gary Mathews, Jr.? At least Dave Roberts? And maybe a top-shelf setup guy for the bullpen too?

2. November: start publicly trashing Holliday and Jennings for "demanding" market rates to sign long-term extensions. Announce the big LaTroy Hawkins and Kaz Matsui signings. Start playing the lowered expectations game. Talk about how you're not going to destroy your club's future by doing something stupid like signing a good player to a market rate contract.

3. December: trade Jennings. Guys like Renck (not Ringolsby; he already knows the answer) then ask the obvious question: that means you've got an extra $5 million to spend -- who are you gonna get? Watch the Rockies stonewall Renck and offer no suggestions. Gradually the "secret plan" becomes obvious. The Rockies always intended to trade Jennings (regardless of what his agent did), and they never intended to commit the salary savings to bringing in any other player.

There's just one big difference between Charlie and Dick the Butchers and Charlie and Dick the Franchise Owners. At least Monfort/Swift never claims to be competing for the blue ribbon in the International Gourmet Meats Festival. No, they're pretty honest about things. They mass produce ground chuck in the pre-packed styrofoam and shrink wrap containers that fill the Walmarts and Burger Kings of Middle America. That cheap labor spits out the cheap meat that fees Fast Food Nation. But in Rockiesland, we are forced to endure the constant idiocy of "the goal is to win a championship" year after year. Or worse: "I really think we'll win the NL West this year." How about a little Swiftian honesty here, too? The real goal (it should be the Monfort Mission Statement posted right next to that inexplicable Branch Rickey statue: "To consistently turn a profit while providing a minimally acceptable level major league baseball performance sufficient to draw 23,000 paying ticketholders every night, even if they're there to see the other team."

Roxpert · 12-28-2006, 01:10 PM

Let's cut Charlie Monfort a little slack here. He and his brother probably aren't smart or clever enough to have a "spin machine". I also think that Charlie genuinely wants to win, but doesn't have the foggiest idea HOW to win since he never has.

The problem is that the brothers Monfort don't want to win so badly that they'd sacrifice a year or two of profitablity in order to get there. They won't go into hoc to spend the $85 million or so needed to fill holes with proven talent. So I think while they want to win, they have an even bigger desire NOT to lose money while trying.

12-28-2006, 12:32 AM	#2 (permalink)
Roxpert Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 1,023	Hiring cheap labor and keeping costs under control is the one skill set that the Monforts have transferred over from their old business to the Rockies, it seems. As we get farther away from the Jennings trade, which I still think was good one, it is clear that cost-savings was the main motivation even though we got good young pitching talent back. SOME team, either the Astros or someone else, will pay Jennings north of $50 million in a long-term deal in the next 12 months. Obviously, if the Rockies won't do that for Jennings, the quintessential "homegrown" pitcher, they likely won't do that for any pitcher. Ever. Not under the Monforts, at least. And yet they were moralizing publicly about Jennings' hiding behind his agent. Must be nice running an entertainment company such as an MLB franchise as if it were a meat-packing plant!!! Last edited by Roxpert; 12-28-2006 at 12:34 AM.

12-28-2006, 01:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
BigRapidsJackass Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,123	Roxpert, you're absolutely correct. One thing that hasn't changed is the b.s. generator they used in their meatpacking days. (See above re: crocodile tears shed for the cheap immigrant labor rounded up in 1991 vs. the lack of any such concerns when they busted the union by closing the entire plant in 1981.) Think about the Jennings trade and the Monfort spin machine: 1. October: the Rockies announce that next year's payroll will be $54 million. Since that seems to be about $12 million more than last year, a few folks get excited. Who's coming to town? Could it be a trade for Vernon Wells? Signing Gary Mathews, Jr.? At least Dave Roberts? And maybe a top-shelf setup guy for the bullpen too? 2. November: start publicly trashing Holliday and Jennings for "demanding" market rates to sign long-term extensions. Announce the big LaTroy Hawkins and Kaz Matsui signings. Start playing the lowered expectations game. Talk about how you're not going to destroy your club's future by doing something stupid like signing a good player to a market rate contract. 3. December: trade Jennings. Guys like Renck (not Ringolsby; he already knows the answer) then ask the obvious question: that means you've got an extra $5 million to spend -- who are you gonna get? Watch the Rockies stonewall Renck and offer no suggestions. Gradually the "secret plan" becomes obvious. The Rockies always intended to trade Jennings (regardless of what his agent did), and they never intended to commit the salary savings to bringing in any other player. There's just one big difference between Charlie and Dick the Butchers and Charlie and Dick the Franchise Owners. At least Monfort/Swift never claims to be competing for the blue ribbon in the International Gourmet Meats Festival. No, they're pretty honest about things. They mass produce ground chuck in the pre-packed styrofoam and shrink wrap containers that fill the Walmarts and Burger Kings of Middle America. That cheap labor spits out the cheap meat that fees Fast Food Nation. But in Rockiesland, we are forced to endure the constant idiocy of "the goal is to win a championship" year after year. Or worse: "I really think we'll win the NL West this year." How about a little Swiftian honesty here, too? The real goal (it should be the Monfort Mission Statement posted right next to that inexplicable Branch Rickey statue: "To consistently turn a profit while providing a minimally acceptable level major league baseball performance sufficient to draw 23,000 paying ticketholders every night, even if they're there to see the other team."

12-28-2006, 01:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
Roxpert Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 1,023	Let's cut Charlie Monfort a little slack here. He and his brother probably aren't smart or clever enough to have a "spin machine". I also think that Charlie genuinely wants to win, but doesn't have the foggiest idea HOW to win since he never has. The problem is that the brothers Monfort don't want to win so badly that they'd sacrifice a year or two of profitablity in order to get there. They won't go into hoc to spend the $85 million or so needed to fill holes with proven talent. So I think while they want to win, they have an even bigger desire NOT to lose money while trying.